Thursday, June 30, 2011

Storytelling and poetry have been a part of the Festival for the past several years. What a talented group of folks!

Ilene Evans is an inventive storyteller. She uses movement, music, and sound to weave a fabric of delight and understanding.

Sarah Sullivan showcased her new book, Passing The Music Down. The book relates the friendship between the late WV champion fiddler, Melvin Wine, and his pupil, Jack Krack, who learned old-time fiddling from Melvin.Diana Tarantini is from Morgantown and presented her debut novel, Confessions of a Life Half Lived.

Judy loves this fellow. He is Fred Powers who tells of his raising in a coal mining community. His one-man drama, "Buried Alive: A Coal Miner's Story," has been performed across West Virginia.

Here is our Folk Festival partner who sings and reads her poetry. Susanna Holstein (Granny Sue) who is such a talented and busy lady. She maintains three active blogs and writes a monthly column for Two Lane Livin' Magazine. She has contributed stories for the Folk Festival newpaper for the past few years.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Judy is in charge of scheduling the artists for the Singing and Storytelling Tent. She does a great job with the help of Susanna Holstein. There are many opportunities to sing at this Festival.

The schedule this year for the Singing Tent included Molly Gainer and Mary Shipley. They are the granddaughter and great granddaughter of WV State Folk Festival founder, Dr. Patrick Gainer. The Falling Branch String Band from Elkins lead the group on Saturday afternoon. Here are a few of the other musicians. Grayson Samples was accompanied by his Dad, Mack Samples, and his Uncle Teddy.

Jack Greathouse and Linda Moore are regulars at the Singing Tent. These folks are local musicians who do a great job!

Here is a talented fellow, John Lilly. John is the editor of the Goldenseal Magazine. John plays a variety of instruments. Judy and I love his yodeling.

Another local duo is Mike Morningstar and Rick Roberts. They sing old-time songs, songs about coal mines, and situations people face daily.

Here is the Mullenex family. Ron is the Dad and Rory his son. Ron plays with a band called Gandydancer.

I will leave you with another special local group, the Putnam Family Singers. Listening to them is a blessing. Such dedication!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Friends

One of the most important aspects of the Festival is meeting friends. Above are Danae and her gals. The children always bring joy to our hearts.Her wonderful smile always welcomes you to her craft booth- tis our friend Debbie.

Charlie and Cathy traveled from Virginia to be a part of this year's Festival. Charlie won first place in his age group in the 5K Run.

Shelly and her little one were out for a stroll.

Jack and Brenda are active in the Folk Festival as well as in other organizations.

Paula and Stan were sampling one of my favorite snacks - Kettle Corn!

Mr. West and daughter Lucy are looking around after the parade. Mr. West was a driving force in organizing the Veterans Unit which now marches in local parades carrying a gigantic flag.

Barbara, John, and Kim were checking out the happenings. John is an excellent fiddle player from Clay County. Kim is a great banjo picker from Charleston.

Don and Sadie Kelble were the honorees at this year's Festival.

GCHS classmates, Shawn and Teresa, were catching up on the news as well as the various vendors.

Monday, June 27, 2011

West Virginia Folk Festival Belles

A unique aspect of the Folk Festival is honoring outstanding women. Most are selected by their county Community Educational Outreach Service clubs. They must be at least 70 years old, represent the pioneering spirit of West Virginia, and reside within WV.

There were 27 counties represented at this year's Festival.

It is a joy to see the ladies in their costumes. Thank heavens this year's temperatures were bearable and not as hot and humid as in past years.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Folk Festival Crafts

The new city park was completed in time to be used by the Folk Festival. Crafters were stationed in the shelters of the park and on Main Street. Janet Carpenter is a crafter from Weston who specializes in primitives. I bought a really cool folk art painted cane from her.

The old crafts are alive and well at the Festival. For some reason, I never have had the desire to learn how to weave chair seats or baskets. However, I do appreciate the skill involved and the end result.

The folks from Rock Cave brought their wide variety of succulents.

I really enjoy watching the kids getting their faces painted.

The vendors had a wide variety of crafts from herb creams to home made doggie treats!

This is just a sampling of the craft vendors who were in Glenville last week.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Folk Festival 5 K Run

Janet Bailey is a fun person and a friend as well as a dynamo of energy in the GSC Athletic Department.

In the next few days I will post some pics that I took at the 2011 West Virginia State Folk Festival last week (June 17-19, 2011). This was the second year for the 5K Run which is held Saturday at 8:00 A.M. on Main Street. Several folks ran with their four legged friends. Below Sarah Sybert is ready with her canine pal who is just a puppy.

The race started and ended on Main Street. The turn around point was near the Gilmer County Recreation Center on Mineral Road. On your mark. Get set. Go!!

The winners were captured by my trusty camera. Number 216 came in first place (T J Abel) and number 76 was the second place winner. I really do not know why they looked so hot!

Coming through the finish line is Eric Holbrook.

Eric and his family live in Georgia and he is the grandson of Ruth Chisler.

It is always great to see runners of all ages participating in this event.

Judy Holbrook (mother of Eric) decided to walk the race. I think she was concerned that if she ran then that would not give the other runners a fair chance!